LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Monday, July 25, 2011
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Current Headlines
Top Stories
• Practitioner Must Pay Survivor of Failed Abortion $36 Million
• Gallup Poll: Americans Support Pro-Life Laws Limiting Abortions
• Abortion Biz in California Closes After 40 Days for Life
• Obama Admin to Protect Human Research Subjects, Not Before Birth
More Pro-Life News
• Pro-Life Legal Group Wants Appeals Court to Strike Obamacare
• Abortion Practitioners in Texas Face Hearings on Evading Laws
• Negro Project 2.0: Margaret Sanger s Abortion Legacy Lives On
• Kansas: 10th Amendment Allows Us to De-Fund Planned Parenthood
• Praying Priests Cause Illinois Abortion Business to Close
• Emily s List Backs More Pro-Abortion Candidates for Congress
• New Website Works to Save Down Syndrome Babies From Abortion
• Washington Post Runs Positive Story on Late-Term Abortionist
• Florida: LeMieux and Hasner Lead GOP Race With Haridopolos Out
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Practitioner Must Pay Survivor of Failed Abortion $36 Million
In a legal case that has received no mainstream media attention, a Florida abortion practitioner has been ordered by a court to pay the survivor of a failed abortion $36 million in damages for injuries she suffered from the abortion.
James Pendergraft is the owner of five abortion facilities in Florida and a late-term clinic in D.C. specializing in abortions past the 24th week of pregnancy. He has had his medical license suspended four times for botched abortions, illegal late-term abortions, and dispensing drugs without a license. He has also faced legal and disciplinary actions for making up false threats from pro-life advocates and reporting them to authorities.
This week Pendergraft found himself in an Orange County courthouse facing a lawsuit from the daughter of Carol Howard, who wants a lifetime of medical care after she was born alive after a botched abortion began. The plaintiff is a 10-year-old girl with massive birth defects who survived the abortion. The plaintiff s mother, Carol Howard, paid $1300 to have an abortion in November 2001 when she was 22 weeks pregnant.
The plan was for the daughter, identified as JH in court documents according to a pro-life advocate familiar with the case, to be delivered stillborn into a toilet. After 12 hours of labor, the mother left the abortion clinic very upset and went to a nearby hospital because the process was taking too long. There, she gave birth to a girl weighing 1 lb 6 oz, who is now 10-years-old. She has cerebral palsy, no function on the left side of her body, strokes and brain damage, physical, emotional and cognitive delays, lung damage, chronic lung disease and seizure disorders.
Pendergraft was found liable for damages and, according to pro-life advocate Kelly Clinger, who had multiple abortions done by Pendergraft years ago, Pendergraft was ordered to pay Howard $18,255,000 in punitive damages, $18,000,000 in compensatory damages and over $400,000 in court costs. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/07/25/practitioner-must-pay-survivor-of-failed-abortion-36-million/
Gallup Poll: Americans Support Pro-Life Laws Limiting Abortions
A new Gallup survey asked Americans their opinion about a slate of pro-life laws frequently considered by Congress and state legislatures across the country and the results show most Americans support most pro-life laws.
Large majorities of Americans favor the broad intent of several types of abortion restriction laws that are now common in many states, but have mixed or negative reactions to others, Gallup reported in its new poll.
The results show 87 percent of Americans support laws requiring abortion practitioners to inform women of the risks associated with an abortion before doing one, another 71 percent support parental consent before a teen under 18 can get an abortion, and 69 percent of Americans support a 24 hour waiting period before an abortion so women can find abortion alternatives.
Gallup also indicated 64 percent support laws making partial-birth abortions illegal, and 50 percent of Americans support laws allowing women a chance to see an ultrasound of their unborn children before an abortion is done something abortion centers routinely perform but don t normally allow women considering an abortion to view. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/07/25/gallup-poll-americans-support-pro-life-laws-limiting-abortions/
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Abortion Biz in California Closes After 40 Days for Life
An abortion center in southern California has closed down thanks in part to the pro-life prayer campaign 40 Days for Life, where local residents prayed for the center to shut down and helped women find alternatives.
Shawn Carney, the campaign director for 40 Days for Life, shared the news of the center closing today in an email to activists involved in the national prayer effort.
David Bereit, 40 Days for Life s national director, and I just got back from a whirlwind trip to Los Angeles, California, with great news to share, he said. The abortion facility in La Puente a suburb in East L.A. where five 40 Days for Life campaigns have been conducted has just closed its doors and gone out of business.
The moment we heard the news, David and I knew we had to be there for the victory celebration rally with the local volunteers who tirelessly worked and prayed to make this day a reality, and it was amazing Carney continued. This now makes fourteen abortion centers that have gone out of business during or following 40 Days for Life prayer vigils outside their doors. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/07/25/abortion-biz-in-california-closes-after-40-days-for-life/
Obama Admin to Protect Human Research Subjects, Not Before Birth
On Friday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that the federal government is contemplating ways to enhance the regulations of research on human subjects (known as the Common Rule ). Acknowledging that research was conducted in a different manner two decades ago when the Common Rule was adopted, HHS is seeking comment in several areas, including areas related to informed consent.
Of course, protecting human research subjects is a noteworthy goal. All human research subjects regardless of their stage in life should be protected. All human research subjects should be able to give informed consent before research is conducted upon them. And traditionally, the federal government has rejected research that harms human embryos. Under the Dickey-Wicker Amendment (an appropriations rider enacted each year), federal funds may not be used for research in which a human embryo or embryos are destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death greater than that allowed for research on fetuses in utero. (Pub. Law 104-99, s. 128, U.S. Statutes at Large 110 (Jan. 26, 1996):34).
However, under the Obama Administration, the federal government is funding research in which human embryos are involved. The Administration is defending its interpretation of Dickey-Wicker in federal court in the case of Sherley v. Sebelius. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/07/25/obama-admin-to-protect-human-research-subjects-not-before-birth/
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Pro-Life Legal Group Wants Appeals Court to Strike Obamacare
A pro-life legal group handling one of the many lawsuits filed against Obamacare, which funds abortions and presents rationing concerns, is asking a federal appeals court to strike down the government-run program.
The American Center for Law and Justice today filed papers with a federal appeals court to reinstate its lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Obamacare, saying its position is grounded in the Constitution along with Supreme Court precedent. In a reply brief filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the ACLJ contends the arguments put forth by the Obama Administration s Department of Justice lack support in the text, history, or related Supreme Court jurisprudence of the Commerce or Necessary and Proper Clauses of the U.S. Constitution.
We look forward to presenting our arguments before the appeals court in September and remain confident that our lawsuit challenging ObamaCare will be reinstated, said Jay Sekulow, the pro-life legal group s chief counsel. The Constitution and Supreme Court precedent are clear: the health care law oversteps the authority of Congress. The individual mandate, requiring Americans to purchase health insurance, is at the heart of this law. It is constitutionally flawed and we believe ultimately will render the entire health care law unconstitutional. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/07/25/pro-life-legal-group-wants-appeals-court-to-strike-obamacare/
Abortion Practitioners in Texas Face Hearings on Evading Laws
The Texas Medical Board has scheduled potential disciplinary hearings for five abortion practitioners accused of evading Texas law by illegally dumping patient records and medical waste, covering up potential cases of statutory rape, and helping teenagers avoid the Texas parental involvement law on abortion.
The pro-life group Operation Rescue conducted a wide-ranging investigation and found numerous abortion centers, staff and abortion practitioners evading Texas laws. The group filed complaints with the Texas Medical Board against twelve abortion practitioners for violations discovered during the three-month undercover investigation it conducted jointly with members of the pro-life group Survivors.
The allegations against them range from mishandling private patient medical records and information, violating informed consent laws, disregarding the 24-hour waiting period, improper disposal of biohazardous medical waste, including human tissue, instructing minors to cross state lines to avoid Texas parental notification laws, and mishandling of drugs and prescription forms.
Now, the state medical board has informed the pro-life organization that it has scheduled Informational Settlement Conferences on October 28 for five of the abortion practitioners. The nature of the allegations remains confidential and will be made public only if the Texas Medical Board determines they have merit at the ISC conference, according to OR. If that determination is made, a recommendation would be forwarded to the full medical board for potential disciplinary action. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/07/25/abortion-practitioners-in-texas-face-hearings-on-evading-laws/
Negro Project 2.0: Margaret Sanger s Abortion Legacy Lives On
Last week s NPR interview on Tell Me More really should be called Tell Me Less . Their heavy editing of only The Radiance Foundation s perspective, while preserving every word spoken by Reverend Carlton Veazey,revealed NPR s typical liberal bias and uninformed defense of Planned Parenthood. The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice CEO s closing remarks (nearly two minutes versus mine which were cut down to 15 seconds) were just a continuation of pro-abortion histrionics by the historically challenged.
Veazey was unwilling to address the epidemic of abortion in the black community, even denying Planned Parenthood s entire history rooted in the racist pseudoscience of eugenics. He played the role so clearly defined by Margaret Sanger s original Negro Project back in 1939, using black pastors to propagandize on her behalf. Margaret Higgins Sanger Slee was a grand manipulator and strategist, with a veritable war chest from her second husband, Noah Slee, an oil tycoon.
Many of her aggressive and repulsive eugenics-based efforts were funded by organizations sympathetic with her Birth Control crusade. One of those population control entities was the Ford Foundation, which also funds the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC) and pro-abortion activist groups like SisterSong, both staunch defenders of Planned Parenthood. Money was never an obstacle for Sanger and her fellow eugenicists. However, ideological resistance, rooted in Christian faith, was. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/07/25/negro-project-2-0-margaret-sangers-abortion-legacy-lives-on/
Kansas: 10th Amendment Allows Us to De-Fund Planned Parenthood
The state of Kansas has issued a new legal filing in response to a lawsuit the Planned Parenthood abortion business has filed in response to a new law it approved revoking the taxpayer funding for the abortion business. The state says the 10th Amendment allows it to determine tax funding. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/07/25/kansas-10th-amendment-allows-us-to-de-fund-planned-parenthood/
Praying Priests Cause Illinois Abortion Business to Close
This is an interesting story, one showing the value of our priests, and the need for prayer in this spiritual war. It makes me wonder what would happen if the bishop tasked these priests with a full-time assignment at the mill. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/07/25/praying-priests-cause-illinois-abortion-business-to-close/
Emily s List Backs More Pro-Abortion Candidates for Congress
The pro-abortion group Emily s List, which only supports liberal Democratic women who pledge to support unlimited abortion and to force taxpayers to fund it, has added more candidates to its 2012 roster. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/07/25/emilys-list-backs-more-pro-abortion-candidates-for-congress/
New Website Works to Save Down Syndrome Babies From Abortion
A group of concerned New Zealand parents and siblings of people with Down syndrome launched a new website this month called savingdowns.com as part of a campaign against the specific targeting of babies with Down syndrome by New Zealand s government. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/07/25/new-website-works-to-save-down-syndrome-babies-from-abortion/
Washington Post Runs Positive Story on Late-Term Abortionist
Today s Washington Post provided a sympathetic profile for Nebraska abortionist LeRoy Carhart, who in December of last year expanded his practice to include abortions in a Maryland clinic about 30 miles from the District of Columbia. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/07/25/washington-post-runs-positive-story-on-late-term-abortionist/
Florida: LeMieux and Hasner Lead GOP Race With Haridopolos Out
Last week, Florida State Senate President Mike Haridopolos announced he was ending his bid for the US Senate. Haridopolos departure leaves two major candidates in the race for the Republican nomination: former Senator George LeMieux and State Representative Adam Hasner. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/07/25/florida-lemieux-and-hasner-lead-gop-race-with-haridopolos-out/
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